Homes Under the Hammer host horrified as guest 'breaks golden rule' with crumbling hotel

During today's instalment of the BBC Two programme Homes Under the Hammer, presenter Dion Dublin showed viewers a former Blackpool guest house which had fallen into disrepair in recent years.

The building, located a stone's throw from the seafront, was inhabitable as the ceiling had collapsed in places, there were missing floorboards and black mould, as well of piles of rubble throughout the nine-bedroom property.

As Dion entered the building which was listed at a starting auction price of just £20,000, he gasped at the state of the inside and simply said: "Wow."

Explaining what he was seeing as he was walking around the building, he said: "I can see water pipes sticking out, I can see gas pipes sticking out of the walls.

"Nice big windows there which is a plus and nice high ceilings which is a plus, and a few old features are still here."

Walking into the main area of the dilapidated hotel, he shared: "It's a really big room which is a positive but there are missing floorboards."

He exclaimed: "It's just messy and old and it gets no better either. I can see another room here, I can see the kitchen out back... It's not a great start but I can see why it had a guide price of £20,000 at auction."

"The change in tourism is causing many guesthouses to close," the presenter explained as he addressed how Blackpool was once a thriving tourist hotspot.

As he continued to look around the former hotel, it was clear just how much of a state of disrepair it was in, but how did it get like this?

Dion, who had walked to the top of the building, shared some valuable advice: "If you are going to take on something like this, there are some things to take into consideration. Make sure you've got the budget before you even think about taking a project on this big.

He added: "This project is definitely worth taking on, but if you have the budget, you will get it right. It's going to have to be taken back to bare brick and started at the very beginning. Get this project in the right hands, with the right budget and some imagination - it could be beautiful again."

A local estate agent said the property could be worth between £200,000 to £300,000 once refurbished as a holiday rental.

When the property went to auction in August 2019, a former opera singer called Peter snapped it up for £34,000. However, he broke the "golden hammer rule" as Dion put it by not viewing the property before buying it or reading the legal pack.

"When we did look at it, we discovered it had planning permission for four flats which is what we were going to do anyway," Peter shared.

The Homes Under the Hammer team returned in 2022 to see how the building had been renovated. It was given a much-needed new roof and the inside was transformed into four stunning flats with large living-dining areas, double bedrooms and bathrooms.

When asked how complicated it was to transform the derelict property into four flats, Peter shared: "It's cost us in the region of £70,000, the main cost was putting a new roof on. The rest of the cost was labour and materials."

An estate agent called Shannon Varey later valued the property at £200,000 if he were to sell it which would give Peter a profit of £90,000 if he were to sell it.

Homes Under the Hammer episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.